Shailaja Paik (born 1973 or 1974) is an Indian historian of modern Indian history who focuses on intersections of class, sexuality, and caste, with a particular emphasis on Dalit experiences and perspectives.

She is currently the Charles Phelps Taft Distinguished Research Professor of History and affiliate faculty in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Asian Studies at the University of Cincinnati.

[1] Paik was born into a Marathi-speaking Dalit family in Pohegaon, Maharashtra, India, where she was one of four daughters.

The family moved to Pune, where Paik grew up in a "one-room house in a slum area" in Yerawada.

[2] Paik has previously worked at Union College as a visiting assistant professor of history (2008–2010) and at Yale University as a postdoctoral associate and visiting assistant professor of South Asian history (2012–2013).